


One step ahead of you

by Imaed



Series: Educational [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: A+ Parenting, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Constipation, Emotionally Repressed, M/M, Papa Stilinski is a good dad, Pre-Slash, Trust is Important, but not the one you would expect, except in real life, no hanky panky, of sort, relationship negociation, slow built
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 00:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8124181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imaed/pseuds/Imaed
Summary: Being in a relationship, any relationship, is hard. especially when one the participant is emotionnally constipated. 
It's not necesserally the one you would think of...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> I made another one youhou ! Hope you will like it !
> 
> All the mistake are mine as usual ;)
> 
> If you want to know more about the small event I teased in this chapter please let me know, I could try to write a drabble about it !

People who knew Stiles now would be shocked to see how quiet he was Before. Sometimes Scott remembered and was amazed how different his friend had been back when they were children. 

Sure he couldn’t stay put even then, but he was less desperate in his words and actions. He was much more open to other people and less suspicious.

What happened with his Mom had irremediably changed him. 

This is exactly why his pretend friendship with Derek was a bad idea. Derek was the epitome of closed off; he never shared information, even when his life was at stake, and most of all, he never let bad memory rests in peace.

Stiles didn’t need someone like him. 

Unfortunately for him, Scott had also learned very soon in their relationship that trying to take Stiles choices from him was often worse than letting him do whatever he wanted.

As a result, the bug argument between Derek and his best friend was not a surprise at all. However, seeing the young adult griping his window just after one of their shouting match was a surprise. 

“Why doesn’t he understand ?” had asked Derek, so frustrated he didn’t even say hello.

Now, Scott was a good friend, most of the time. He wanted it to be duly noted that he could have asked Derek to just leave it alone, or to leave Stiles. It would be a clean break up (even if Stiles still thought they weren’t in a relationship which was stupid in itself, would they fight so virulently if they weren’t ? No, ergo they were!) and the problem would be solved. Kind of.

“Don’t let go, hold on on him. Trust me on this, his dad and I we tried. A lot. For longer than you. He is never gonna understand.”

The room was Alpha free before he could add another word.

//

“I JUST WANT YOU TO BE SAFE”

“I AM NEVER GOING TO BE SAFE, I WANT TO DO WHAT IS IMPORTANT, SAFETY IS RELATIVE”

“IT IS NOT RELATIVE TO ME”

//

Lydia stared at her friend pensively. He was tensed, angry, probably just out of another fight with Derek but he had take the time to come to her place and was currently polishing her nail like a pro just because she had asked him. 

He was stuck for a while because Stiles was nothing if not loyal and true to his word. Maybe it was time for her to get involved in this friendship.

“It’s amazing how you keep fighting about this” she dropped with her usual tact.

Well she wasn’t trying to be diplomat, tact was useless to her. Stiles tensed harder (she silently wondered how much he could endure; his back should be stiff and his neck painful with so much tension there). 

“Don’t”

“It’s cute you know…”

“Lydia” he warned her.

“How you can still fight one another but never be appart for more than what? Two days ?”

Her hand winced in his but he didn’t waver and the nail polish was perfect. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He stubbornly refused to watch anywhere but her hand. Well, she could respect that. For now.

//

Dinner was apparently becoming the perfect time to talk about Derek with his Dad. 

“Still fighting?”

The teen willed himself from just leaving the room. It was his problem, and yet all his surrounding had decided to meddle. 

“Yes”

It was still imprecise how his Dad was feeling about the whole thing. Stiles was still waiting for the authoritative order to stop seeing the older man to come. 

“It might be the time to admit you can’t agree on this.”

“It’s not that simple”

“I am aware”

The son stared at his father.

“You are not helpful”.

The oldest didn’t add anything but he probably ate his carrot stick with a smug smile on his face.

//

“JUST BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN TAKE MY FREE WILL FROM ME”

“What?”

It took a second of stunned surprise to keep up with the change of tone but Stiles could jump from topic to topic like a champion in normal occasions.

“What what?”

“No I don’t”

Derek looked so afraid suddenly his will to fight disappeared suddenly.

“Then why are we arguing? Derek? DEREK? YOU CAN’T ESCAPE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS ! DEREK DAMMIT!!

//

For the second time in the week, Scott watched the Alpha climb his window with a destressed face on. He braced himself, even if he didn’t knew exactly for what.

“Do I love him?”

His pen rooled over the desk and fall down to the floor. He must have droped it. Just like his jaw.

What ?

“What?”

Derek turned around, flustered.

“Don’t… Sorry, I shouldn’t have come.”

And he left without so much as an explanation. 

Scott stared at the window for a good twenty minutes and then sighted. This was awkward.

//

For once, they were at the station. His Dad had worked on the morning shift for days now, it was only natural he would have a late shift sooner or later.

As a result, Stiles had brought him a nice home made salad with lots and lots of vegetable and a bit of grilled chicken. He had hoped he could bribe him into not talking about his fight with Derek that way. He was really wrong.

“You probably don’t remember but your Mom and I, we used to fight all the time.”

“Not my boyfriend” he reminded, uselessly, the Sheriff.

“Well you certainly are fighting a lot to keep it that way.”

There was a stretched silence until Stiles asked.

“Why did you fight about?”

“My job, her job, the house, us. Mostly when we were doing things we were not ready for. 

“What’s your point ?”

The Sheriff ate a piece of grilled chicken, he was obviously trying to add some drama to their talk. Like his life didn’t have enough already.

“Maybe you are not ready for what it implies”

“I don’t know what you are talking about”

It was blurry how much he was being oblivious and how much he was denying. But his father was thorough and relentless. 

“Emotional commitment, and before you repeat that he is not your boyfriend, I would like to add that every kind of relationship require emotional commitment, even friendship.”

Stiles was baffled. His dad couldn’t imply what he thought he was implying.

“For once could you not talk to me like I’m a grown up ? I don’t understand a word since the beginning of this conversation.”

His Dad chewed resolutely, probably savoring his last piece of meat for a long long while.

“He doesn’t want to lose you because he cares, you don’t want to care because you don’t want to lose him.”

“Same difference” Answered Stiles impatiently.

“It’s really, really not.”

//

The knock on the door woke him. He had been so tired of his long shift he hadn’t even bothered to go to bed. His stiff muscles were vehemently protesting as he got up to open the door.

It was almost 12AM and he needed to take a shower and have a real nap before going back to work. Stiles was probably at school.

He was not entirely surprised to see Derek on the threshold. He however noticed how miserable he looked. It seemed that the argument between him and Stiles was taking his toll.

“He is not here” said the older man.

“I know” answered the other one. “I need to talk to you”

The boy’s voice was subdued and he obviously tried to appear as small and unthreatening as he could. Stiles’ father opened the door a bit more and invited the boy in. 

They sat at the kitchen table with a coke each and then the Sheriff waited.

Derek tored the label, anxious and unprepared. He obviously didn’t know what to say. 

They drank silently.

Stiles had always been fascinated how his father could crack even the most hardy of criminal just by staying sit and watch them without saying a word. One of the Sheriff greatest lessons had been that even if you can talk yourself out of every situation you had to know how efficient silence could be also. 

“You should be furious” said finally the young adult.

Still not a sound came out of the Sheriff mouth.

“I am eight years older”

The Sheriff scoffed. The age gap bothered him a bit. But it was still not his cue to talk.

“Why are you okay with this ?”

It was a bit alarming how attached this man was to his underage son. For a second, Stiles’ father doubted about the right course of action. But he had trust his son so far, with more than a fourteen years old boy should endure. Now was not the time to stop.

“In the end” he started “it is not my decision. This is about you and him. I am just a bystander.”

Derek’s face was pensive and still a bit freak out. 

“I would really appreciate if you could wait for the serious stuff though… mortgage, children, marriage, sex, that kind of things.”

Derek’s cheeks reddened. Even as a 40 something straight men, the Sheriff could admit it was a good look on him, more innocent, less desperate.

“Thank you.”

He tilt his head to acknowledge the praise and finished his drink.

“Lock the door when you leave”

His nap was long overdue.

//

“You realize that you are a walking issue don’t you ?”

Stiles almost spited his coffee. This was new. 

“I think you mistook me for someone else, more broody and eyebrow-y” he said sarcastically.

Lydia smirked, which was much more often this day (the girl had a mean sense of humor Stiles had totally worship but it was oh so rare when she tried to hide her brain). She did a … thing with her hair, totally in control of the image she was sending, relax but still sharp. Only Lydia could do it just by appearing shallow.

“Well, obviously he is too. It seems unfair though that you blame him for his inadequacies when you have them too.” She waited a moment and then added “you know, for someone so smart you can be really dumb when it came to people”.

“I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You always claim you want to have sex…”

This times Stiles did spit his coffee all over the table.

“But you are a pain in the ass to be a friend to.”

“What?”

“What are you fighting Derek about?”

Stiles stared at his friend like she had suddenly asked why the ground was brown.

“Err, I think I made myself clear on the subject” he said unsure of what she wanted to hear.

The strawberry blonde smiled patronizingly. 

“You have been fighting for a month and a half now, and he left almost two weeks ago” she enunciated.

“I’m aware” he answered moodily. 

“You are pissed with him.”

“Damn right I am.”

“Why?”

She waited like a cat in front of a mouse waiting for the fatal blow. It was strange. There was nothing to be brutal about.

“He is just being an idiot.”

“But why?”

“Because he is stupid?”

She sighed tiredly.

“You can’t even tell me what the argument you two are having. You do realize than friendship, as any relationship goes both way right?”

“I’m not impervious to intimacy.”

“Yes you are. You just talk about cold hard facts, and when you express feelings about somethings it’s about topics that are not direct concern of you.“

“I can talk about my feelings”

“About abstract concept like feminism or the next election or any hypothetical subject about your future life with someone you don’t even let in when she is your friend” she dismissed more and more annoyed.

“I can talk about my feelings” he repeated stubbornly. 

“Okay, then what is it that you feel about this situation Stiles? What do you FEEL about Derek being in your room almost every night since the last summer to talk about nothing and everything? Or what do you think about Scott’s absence in your life since Allison came back from her little trip to Europe? Why do you insist on going to this low rate University when you have been accepted by Harvard? And why did I have to learn this from your father???” she was almost shouting now.

He stared at her, coffee all but forgotten. He had no idea how to address her questions. She took a deep breath and he could see how she was trying not to let her temper get the worse out of her. 

“Anyway” she said while taking delicately a sip of her cup, now probably at a less than optimal temperature “as the future love of your life you had absolutely no chance with, I could accept this situation. As your friend, I find it disturbing”.

//

“When was the last time you slept?”

Stiles was so relieved to hear that voice he didn’t even start. His chair made the most desperate noise when he jumped out of it to welcome his ‘guest’. 

“Where have you been?” he asked anxiously. Have you been out of town? Just a text Derek! I thought you were in a cave being tortured again!”

The older man stepped closer but stayed further than he used to. Suddenly, the teenager realized how physically closed they were before. Derek’s body produced more warmth than his and he used to feel it just on the extent of his skin. Right in front of him, so far away from each other it was like he was suddenly cold.

“I needed to think” was all the answer the werewolf provided.

The distance was almost unbearable.

“And?”

The look of annoyance on Derek’s face could be comical in less serious matters.

“You are just a kid”

It was said with a finality that didn’t suit Stiles. At all.

“Cause you are such an example of maturity yourself” he snorted. 

He didn’t care about being discarded this easily. He was used to it. Besides, it didn’t hurt that much.

“You don’t understand”

“That’s what I do for a living apparently” replied the sheriff’s son bitterly.

They watched each other in silence for almost a minute.

“So what, you were gone for two weeks and you came back from your little retreat with a captain obvious comment about my age? I can’t will myself to be older.”

“And I can’t lose everything I have again.”

It was said matter of factly, like a truth nobody could contradict.

Stiles made a step closer, and maybe his brain was deranged but he felt warmer already. 

“Just because you lost everything before, doesn’t mean that everything you will ever have will be lost again.”

His psychiatrist had said something similar long ago. The very next week, he had almost killed Scott. It’s probably at this moment he realized people he cared for could die really easily. 

“I’m sorry I shouted” he said very quietly.

He made another step toward Derek. He was almost close enough to touch him now.

There was vulnerability in Derek’s face, the teenager was sure he was the first to see it since the fire. 

“I just want you to be safe”

And there it was, the heart of the problem.

“No, Derek. You just want to be sure nothing will ever happen to me.”

The werewolf frowned.

“It’s the same thing.”

Stiles step closer, again and breathed in. 

“It’s really, really not.”

//


End file.
